# High-Throughput TB Vaccine Antigen Discovery

> **NIH NIH K08** · TUFTS UNIVERSITY BOSTON · 2021 · $158,491

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract:
Approximately one third of the world's population is infected with latent tuberculosis (LTBI). While BCG
vaccination protects some children against pediatric tuberculous meningitis, it does not prevent the most
prevalent form of disease, pulmonary TB disease in adults. To date, every new tuberculosis (TB) vaccine
candidate has failed in large-scale clinical trials and no known immune correlates of vaccine protection for TB
have been validated. Failure of new TB vaccines such as MVA-85A, despite generating high-magnitude Th1
immune responses against the immunodominant antigen, Ag85A, is likely related to the exclusive use of
immunodominant antigens in these vaccines, despite poor correlation of immunodominant responses with
vaccine efficacy. These facts highlight a critical need for discovery of novel subdominant TB antigens for use in
TB vaccines that can enhance functional immunity and bacterial killing. Here we propose a novel TB antigen
discovery platform that enables systematic and unbiased probing of a TB genome-wide DNA vaccine
library with the overall objective to identify new TB antigens. Our specific aims are to generate immune
responses to pooled subdominant antigens in mice and to identify novel subdominant immunogens
with capacity to induce protective immunity. We aim to do this by in vivo interrogation of the TB
proteome using the mouse challenge model. Our long-term goal is to inform TB vaccine design and to
uncover novel immune correlates of vaccine protection for TB. Achieving these aims has the capacity to
transform the TB vaccine field and contribute to the development of an efficacious TB vaccine. The Barouch
laboratory at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center leads in vaccine design and discovery for diseases such as
HIV and Zika virus infection. I aim to synergize my expertise in TB bacteriology and animal models with
enhanced training in immunology and vaccinology at the Center for Virology and Vaccine Research to gain the
skills necessary to position myself to become a leader in TB vaccine discovery as a principle investigator and
head of my own research group.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10242744
- **Project number:** 5K08AI135098-05
- **Recipient organization:** TUFTS UNIVERSITY BOSTON
- **Principal Investigator:** Amanda Martinot
- **Activity code:** K08 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $158,491
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-06-01 → 2023-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10242744

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10242744, High-Throughput TB Vaccine Antigen Discovery (5K08AI135098-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10242744. Licensed CC0.

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